The Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development (EFSD) will provide Armenia with a $50 million loan to finance a project designed to modernize irrigation systems, the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) said in a statement.
The preliminary agreement was reached as a result of talks between the bank and an Armenian delegation headed by deputy finance minister Armen Gevorgyan.
EDB said the parties worked out a blueprint loan agreement that will be submitted soon for the approval of EFSD Board. The signing of the agreement is tentatively scheduled for September 2015.
According to EDB, $40 million will be provided by the EFSD as a soft loan and the $10 million will be provided by the government of Armenia as a co-financing.
The money will be used to build and restore 8 gravity irrigation systems with a total length of 70.4 km, 8.1 kilometers of main canals, 54.1 kilometers of inter-farm canals and 277.8 kilometers of farm irrigation networks.
The project also involves a set of measures to increase the responsibility of water users and improve the management of water users associations.
The implementation of the five-year project is to kick off in late 2015 or early 2016. The project is part of a long-term national program for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of irrigation and drainage networks.
Source - http://arka.am
